How much would you expect to pay on average these days....

A friend bought an f2.0 Summicron-M Aspheric for his M7 last year for $1,650.00 AUD last year.

I don't know where he bought it from, but I know that's what he paid for it.

The reason I know this, is because he sold his old Subaru ute for $1,500 to pay for it and needed a loan of $150.00 which he got from his very understanding girlfriend.

That should give you a ball park figure, but this lens was, I believe, on the cheap side, which is why he sold his ute to a car yard inside ½ an hour of hearing about this lens being for sale, then he rang his girlfriend, who happened to be in my darkroom when she took the call.

I'm basically a Nikon person, that is about the extent of my current Leica knowledge.

Mick.

 

As I am sure you know, the M6 has been around for a while, the Summicrons even longer (more than 40 years in at least 3 iterations). It is easy to date cameras and lenses by their serial numbers (I and probably many other APUGers have lists). A relatively expensive but good shop in London has these prices:
http://www.richardcaplan.co.uk/secondhand.htm#PRE OWNED LEICA M
As I am sure you are also aware, the Leica experience is also available under the Voigtländer name. There is also the question of whether you need the (considerable) weight of a 90 Summicron, whether you will ever shoot at f2 and whether this lens is capable of being focused totally accurately at full aperture. Another consideration is servicing - I know nothing about Leica service in Australia, if this is hard to find, you might like to buy a fully-serviced camera from a dealer - this will then keep going for a long time without attention.

Regards,

David

 

It is not what you have asked for, but it might help: a 40mm f2 Minolta Rokkor (originally for the M-mount Minolta CLE) is an excellent very sharp lens that usually goes for about 250 USD, and the 90mm f4 Elmar-C might be a bit slow, but it is very small and light and an excellent lens as well that also goes for about 250 USD. You won't be disappointed with either of them.

 

FWIW, Nicole, I've found KEH Camera Exchange (http://www.keh.com) to be a fairly good price indicator. Their prices will be somewhat higher than what can be found on eBay, but their condition ratings are conservative, and they have a decent return policy.

KEH is showing a range of $850-$1,300 for the 35 'Cron, around $1000 for the 90mm Cron, and $400-$1,000 for the 90mm Elmarit.

 

I agree with Mr Barker. What I have noticed is that sometimes I've found KEH to have better prices then Ebay, depending, so shopping both would be prudent. For the exchange policy tho KEH is better.

 

If you want the best Leica has to offer than the current generation lenses are pretty much a requirement..does not have to be new. It would be hard to go wrong with a set of Asph Summicrons. I have no idea what they would cost. I would recommend going to ebay and checking out completed auctions.